Sunday 20th June 2010 - Wightwick Manor, nr. Wolverhampton.

A visit to the National Trust owned Wightwick Manor near Wolverhampton. This fine late Victorian house was built for Theodore Mander the head of the famous paint manufacturing firm and was extended soon afterwards in a roughly late Tudor style. The house contains much decorative work by William Morris and a large collection of art predominately from the Pre-Raphaelite and the Arts & Crafts/Aesthetic Movements. Well worth a visit.

19th & 20th June 2010 - Himley Church fete and Remembrance Garden open weekend

The 19th & 20th June saw the church of St. Michael & All Angels, Himley hold thier open weekend and summer fete. The Ward family private Garden of Remembrance was also open, the only weekend of the year where the public are allowed to view the last resting place of the Earl's of Dudley and thier family. As usual Mr Gilbert Guest, the now retired gardener, was on hand to chat to the people who came to view the burial ground.

Visit to Witley Parish Church by our friends from Himley

Today a party of around twenty people from Himley paid a visit to Great Witley to view the parish church. The group consisted of historical researchers and their friends from the other "Dudley" family home and we were especially delighted to welcome Dr. Trevor Raybould and his wife Angela along with Peter Tilley and not forgetting Mr. Gilbert Guest who recently retired as part-time gardener to the present Earl of Dudley and who was responsible for the maintenance of the Garden's of Remembrance at both locations. Their visit included a talk on church history at Witley by Anne Leonie and chief steward Roger Perkins and a visit to the crypt (thanks go to Ian Holland). For my part I gave a conducted tour around the Garden of Remembrance at the Chapel of Ease. We all enjoyed the experience and there are already plans afoot for a reciprocal visit and for the mutual exchange of material between the two groups.

3rd June 2010 - Poseidon Fountain restoration Society A.G.M.

P.F.R.S. - A.G.M. was held at the English Heritage visitor centre at Witley Court, courtesy of site operations manager Spencer Trickett. See main website pages for further details.

Sunday 30th May 2010

Stewarding the church again in the morning whilst plants were on sale on stalls outside the porch. Plenty of visitors from 11.00 a.m. until 2.00 p.m. (just over 100), then Simon Lees-Milne arrived for the afternoon session.

Graham Stansfield Memorial Bench, 25th April 2010

A healthy congregation at Great Witley saw the church playing host to the usual Holy Communion service together with the christening of three young adults from the parish. After the services, the curate, The Reverend Robin Walter, gave his blessing to a new bench dedicated to the memory of the late Graham Stansfield. His widow Nancy and members of her family are pictured here after the short ceremony. Graham was an active member of the local parishioners who is best remembered as a keen historian and researcher on matters concerning Witley Court. Sadly, I never met Graham, as I came on to the scene shortly afer his tragic death.

Another busy turn stewarding at Great Witley

I arrived at Witley Church for a stewarding turn today; I was early (about 20 minutes to eleven. No sooner had I walked through the door and set up the sales stand when a coach party arrived and I found myself giving an impromptu talk to around thirty tourists who had descended on the church without any forewarning. A quick bit of improvisation thus ensued, but the said party were very grateful for my efforts in the end. It was nice to see their appreciation of the building which was reflected in a healthy sale of items from the sales stand and some much appreciated donations in the "milk churn". The only thing missing was the organ being played. The coach driver also knew a fair bit about the church as he often brings parties here because he knows that his fellow travellers always have a good visit. It was also good to see that visitor numbers have recovered dramatically in recent weeks after the dearth of folk during the winter period. Easter weekend was particularly busy - long may it continue.